This Asian MMA promotion wants to crack the US market — without the blood and trash-talking

Hong Kong(CNN) First they were seen as cage-fighting meat heads. Then testosterone-fueled trash talkers wearing expensive suits.

Could 2023 be the year mixed-martial arts (MMA) in the United States finally returns to its pure, humble beginnings nurtured in Asia nearly 5,000 years ago?

“Our mission is not to stage the biggest, bloodiest fights and have two athletes cuss at each other. That works — for a certain type of audience and consumer,” said Hua Fung Teh, president of Singapore-based MMA promotion agency One Championship, broadly seen as Asia’s answer to industry behemoth UFC, which is part of the…